TORY bigwig Michael Heseltine is spearheading a Brexit rebellion in the House of Lords which could derail Theresa May’s plans.

Lord Heseltine - who famously clashed with Margaret Thatcher when he served in her cabinet in the 1980s - is again proving a thorn in the side of Number 10.

He denied he was seeking confrontation with Mrs May over the issue but vowed to rebel against the Prime Minister and back an opposition bid to ensure a meaningful vote on the final deal she achieves in Brexit negotiations.

But Senior Ministers responded angrily to the move, branding Lord Heseltine and his supporters “bad losers who are trying to wreck Brexit”.

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Lord Heseltine is set to lead a Tory revolt against Theresa May's Brexit Bill

The former Tory deputy prime minister said Labour, Liberal Democrat and rebellious Tory colleagues will back an amendment on a final vote in order to uphold the Supreme Court's ruling that MPs and peers have ultimate authority.

Writing in The Mail On Sunday, he said: "In the end, the outcome of Brexit will have to be confirmed by Parliament.

"It will also have to pass in 27 national European parliaments, several sub-national parliaments and the European Parliament.

"It was perhaps unwise for our Government to suppose that our Parliament should be excluded where all others were included.

In the end the outcome of Brexit will have to be confirmed by Parliament

Lord Michael Heseltine

"Very sensibly, after the Supreme Court interpreted the law, that position was reversed and Parliament was restored to its rightful constitutional role as the ultimate authority.

"I will vote in the House of Lords to ensure that position is legally intact.

"This is not a confrontation with the Government which has already made such a commitment.

"It is, put simply, a decision to ensure that the Commons has the chance to define its role in the exercise of its authority over what most people regard as the defining issue of our time."

Brexit: Results of how the UK voted

Mon, March 20, 2017

Much of the North East of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union including Sunderland, Gateshead, Darlington, Durham, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland, North Tyneside and South Tyneside, and Northumberland

GREAT YARMOUTH: The town of Great Yarmouth on the East Coast of England voted by 72% to leave the European Union.

If the Bill is amended, a period of parliamentary "ping pong" may follow, with MPs asked to vote on changes made in the Lords.

Conservative chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin said Mrs May will not back down in her battle with the House of Lords despite Lord Heseltine’s rebellion.

Sir Patrick said the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, which will give Mrs May the power to begin exit negotiations under Article 50, should go through the Lords without changes.

He told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "We will want to see how the Bill evolves once it's out of the House of Lords.

"But look, the Bill got an overwhelming majority, one of the biggest majorities a Bill has got on its third reading in the House of Commons and it's gone to the House of Lords.

"The Prime Minister has said that there will be a vote once the negotiations are concluded, the Prime Minister won't conclude the negotiations if she thinks she's got a bad deal."

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The move could mean Theresa May would not be able to leave Brexit talks without a deal

Asked if the Government was ready for a "fight" with peers, he said: "We'll see whether we're going to have a fight or not.

"The Bill should go through as it has come from the House of Commons, the elected House of Commons.

"We can't now start second-guessing the referendum.

"The Prime Minister will not come back to the House of Commons with a deal that she cannot recommend, so that is what we have got to do. We've got to give the Prime Minister as much flexibility in the negotiations over those next two years, not giving her a backstop to other issues."

A vote on whether Parliament should have a meaningful say on the final deal is not expected during the Bill's committee stage next week, but is more likely during report stage on March 7.